kristen and jason part I

Back from another wedding weekend and it was grand! My dear friends Kristen and Jason got married this past weekend in their hometown of Ponte Vedra Beach. It was such a beautiful and FUN wedding...the pictures speak volumes you will agree.

I drove to the east coast on Thursday after work and was looking forward to the friends, family, and food I would soon be a part of. The Boehlers kicked the wedding festivities off right when they welcomed their arriving out-of-town family, bridal party, and dear neighbors to a backyard fish fry. It was a casual treat and lasted into the wee hours of the morning. Kristen's brother Brian manned the fryer as dad Karl held tight the karoke mic and never put it down. It brought back fond memories of TPC garage parties when Mr. B dusted off the keyboard and we danced and sang "Piano Man" until our hearts' content. Back in the day we called ourselves Karl and the Earth Angels and we were reunited this weekend!

Friday brought a long day of back-to-back events and changing outfits. I feel like that's all I did on Friday...eat and change dresses {no complaints there!}. Kristen's Bridesmaid Luncheon was held at the Sawgrass Beach Club and was hosted by two very sweet family friends, Betty and Sondra. Kristen looked radiant and she gave each bridesmaid a fabulous monogrammed tote bag with lots of goodies inside. We are each so thankful that we have Kristen as our friend and a part of our lives. She brings joy to everyone she meets.

During the brief period in between events Leanne and I got to go to Mrs. Howard...I was thrilled. You see, I have been wanting to visit one of her stores and when Leanne and her mom told me it was just up the road from their house well I was there! She also has a marvy new blog.

A few short hours later it was off to the rehearsal and to the swanky rehearsal dinner that followed. The dinner was held at the TPC Sawgrass Club House. It was an intimate party with fabulous toasts to the happy couple and out-of-this-world kind of good food. For example, some of the best tasting grouper I have ever had and a triple layer carrot cake with a thin layer of raspberry jam in between cake layers. I mean, I've had delicious carrot cake before but this tops them all! My new favorite recipe :) After the rehearsal dinner, the groom's family continued the party at their house for cocktails and more dessert to visit with family and close friends in town for the big event.

fish fry!

kristen and me

jason and kristen

kristen and her new sister-in-law @ the bridesmaid luncheon

lunch is served...chilled avocado soup, almond crusted chicken, and spring greens with bacon and bleu cheese crumbles with a poppyseed vinaigrette

chocolate mousse for dessert...with raspberry sauce!

coffee talk

bridesmaids with the hostesses in our new monogrammed aprons

with cousin allison - the flower girl

carolyn, leanne, kacy, kristen, kylie, mc, lauren

kristen with her maids of honor at the rehearsal - love the ribbon bouquet!

father daughter

mr. and mrs. boehler

@ sawgrass

my beautiful place setting

soon-to-be mr. and mrs. klauk overlooking the golf course

the bridal party

main course...no one looks at me funny when I whip out my camera before I take the first bite...they know it's going straight to the blog :)

I will leave you with this.

Tune in for part II...

birthday blessings

My Grandma Jeannine celebrated her 80th birthday on Sunday! Mom and dad had a party for her at our house Friday night. Unfortunately, I missed it because I was in Ponte Vedra for Kristen and Jason's wedding but I borrowed some pictures from mom's camera that she took and one struck my fancy. When I heard about the cake mom made, well, to say I was jealous was an understatement. It was orange cake with orange buttercream frosting! Despite it's tastiness...it was also gorgeous. And did they save me any when Holly and I stopped in Ocala on Sunday?? nooo.

Good thing this next month is full of birthdays and happenings {mom, doesn't an orange cake sound marvy for Easter this year?!}...

Many blessings to my sweet Grandma Jean and her 80 wonderful years~

charlotte

I'm back from Charlotte and I had a ball! The workshop was intense but I survived and left with such a better feeling about the test ahead. But I tell you, I. am. exhausted. My schedule over the weekend was as follows: Friday 2-7:00pm, Saturday 8:15am-6:30pm, and Sunday 8:15am-5:30pm! They even allowed us a very quick lunch break - much appreciated. My only complaint - I left with an extremely sore back...drafting on a flat surface for hours does not do a body good.

Being able to stay with Jamie was the best part and although it wasn't for very long we managed to squeeze in a ton including driving around some of Charlotte's most swanky neighborhoods. I loved every house and could absolutely live in them all! I also got to meet her fun group of friends. Visiting old friends and gaining new - always a terrific pair! We had two great dinners and one in which we had sweet potato ravioli topped with gorgonzola cheese sauce and roasted walnuts...yum. The weather was beautiful all weekend and it was so nice to welcome spring with a weekend trip to a fabulous city.

@ 300 east

at cantinas with shannon and jamie...and our scarves

so proud

Today I get a gold star. Drum roll please...I packed, for the very first time, a carry on suitcase for my flight!! This is a big deal and I know that there are several nice people out there who have graciously carried one of my checked bags before and are miming the act of giving me a gold star this very minute. Why, thank you.

I'm off to Charlotte this evening for a workshop to prepare for the interior design licensing test that I hope to take in the fall. Unfortunately, I will spend most of my visit to the Queen City in a classroom. I am both looking forward to this workshop and dreading it at the same time...even a tad bit nervous. It's just that I'm not sure what to expect from it all. Will we be taking a practice exam or just learning study tips or both? Will the other 9 designers be a lot older and more experienced? Where am I going to eat lunch (very important) ? We shall soon see. I'm just going to gloss my lips red and dive in.

But despite all the silly mumbo jumbo above, I am very excited to visit and stay with Jamie while I'm up there! Jamie and I became fast friends our freshman year in college and she now works as a buyer for Belk headquarters. She'll be picking me up from the airport tonight {which by the way I adore - they have rocking chairs!} and although this won't be a just for fun trip we are going to squeeze in some delicious dinners worth noting. And don't worry Jamie, I can get my suitcase.

On another note, I am deeply saddened by the death of actress Natasha Richardson. She did after all play Sally Bowles in my favorite Broadway revival Cabaret! And her role in The Parent Trap was just fabulous and I wanted to be her - her life was grande living in a London flat, designing wedding gowns, and having impeccable fashion.

So in memoriam this weekend (no not lacy pants):

~time for a holiday, life is a cabaret~

pamela and eric

The joy of this blog for me is memories - looking back at past posts - reliving each and every special occasion. I hope this finds you pleasure as well. Through my blog it's obvious the things I love and where I draw my inspiration. I'm sure the list of family, friends, food, flowers, birthdays, details, design, style, parties, weddings { I could go on and on}... is rolling through your head. It's constantly flowing through mine.

And here's where the fun part of all of the above comes in...there are so many fabulous events that happened (such as Holly's wedding!) before I started Social Graces last July. I want to share as many of them with you as I see fit and it is quite appropriate today to share with you the wedding festivities of my dear friends Pamela and Eric. Today they are celebrating their first anniversary ~ hip hip hooray!

This time last year was spent traveling along the Gulf coast to the Clearwater area. It seemed as if there was a road trip with the girls nearly every other weekend and we had not a worry in sight - just the beach breezes in our hair and the sound of wedding bells drawing near. Parties, parties, and more parties...I was there.

Pamela's wedding marked the first college friend to get married and started the long chain effect. These posts will be fun and filled with lots of pictures and don't worry because I have at least one each month through June...including two brand spanking new weddings to toast! And they all include moi in all my bridesmaid glory. enjoy~

engagement party

dress fittings

bachelorette weekend in orlando

bridal luncheon at the columbia and lingerie soiree followed

tea party in downtown safety harbor

mom and I both wore hats from grandmother mary elizabeth's collection...she made the palmetto hat on the right

bridesmaid luncheon~pamela is a classical pianist and her mother is a flutist and vicki played the beautiful harp...what a musical treat!

pamela and her dad at the wedding rehearsal

rehearsal dinner @ the stuffed mushroom

the bridesmaids with the groom

peonies!!

peeking as the guests arrived for the ceremony

the reception was held at the historic safety harbor resort and spa

adpis

congratulations mr. and mrs. patton!!

au pair diaries

I am Sally Kate's au pair, otherwise known as her nanny. All of my spare time is spent holding and entertaining this bundle of joy. Mama Sis and I had another sisters weekend last weekend as Marcus was off to a work conference in Orlando. I moved in on Thursday and had such a fun time with Mama Sis and Sally Kate and the dogs of course! We took walks, sang songs, took naps, went out to eat...hmmm sounds like life even before SK :) She is really enjoying her nursery rhymes and art cards.

On Sunday, Holly had her Junior League event that she had planned and so it was just the babe and me. We had a blast and she was so good for her au pair. When we went to visit Holly at her event she said she would like to introduce me to her friends as her au pair. It has a nice ring, doesn't it? I love this little girl so much (and her mommy and daddy!).

Sweet Sally Kate is now two months old and she has been entertaining us with her cheerful smile just in the last two weeks. She especially loves to flash her smile if you compliment her such as you are so beautiful Sally Kate. Insert smile.

Another treat last weekend was mom and daddy came for a quick visit! I will say they came to visit me but I secretly think they came just to see Sally Kate's smiles that we've been raving about. Sunday night we all celebrated Marcus's birthday with a delicious dinner at his parents' house. Family from the big bend area were there and we had a delightful time. Food and family near is always the best way to celebrate!

The work week is at mid-point now and as always I'm counting down the days until the weekend. These days I have a part time job. The best I could ever have.

this is how we like to spend our time

smile!

grandmommy with sally kate and fern...fern is always near the baby...holly likes to remind fern that "yes we know you were a mommy too!"

sk and her cousin bryanna

happy birthday marcus!!

spring is near

Washington, D.C. may have its cherry trees but my yard sure has its dogwoods - and they are blooming beauties! I admit that I was jealous as I saw my neighborhood blossom with Japanese Magnolias in February and my yard was bare, but now as we approach this new season with each new clear blue day and increasingly warmer temperatures my yard is in full swing. I only just noticed the other day as tiny white flowers began to sprinkle my trees in the front yard. As I looked up my jaw dropped at the number of dogwoods towering over my small brick house. 16 if you want to know, but who's counting. Spring is officially near and as the evening sun lingers I'm enjoying the walks after work with Fern, Lila, Mama Sis {formerly known as Sister, but I came across that fun name recently and had to adopt it!}, Sally Kate, Lane and Camp...do come along!

spring means bunnies and eggs of all shapes and sizes

fresh dogwood decor

if you didn't already know, I'm in love with camellias...but I've kept my distance in sharing this with you too much as to not scare you away:) luckily they are still blooming in my neck of the woods and more likely than not there's an arrangement of them in at least one room of my house at all times!